


Prompto vs the night eel

by carolyncaves



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Galdin Quay (Final Fantasy XV), Gen, Photography, scenery, sensory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 13:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17529608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolyncaves/pseuds/carolyncaves
Summary: Prompto makes his way alone down the beach of Galdin Quay, hoping to catch an elusive shot.Part of the FFXV Jeopardy prompt challenge. World [800]: Galdin Quay, Prompto + dusk prompted by errantknightess





	Prompto vs the night eel

Prompto makes his way alone down the beach of Galdin Quay. The sand gives way under his feet, making each step its own individual task. The setting sun has slipped behind the hills bordering the shore, casting the pale sand into shadow and saving Prompto’s eyes from the low-angled light illuminating the restaurant further out to sea. The waves crash on his left – inhale, pause, exhale. Repeat ad infinitum.

The guys are all in the camper – Noctis napping, Ignis cooking, Gladio yakking his ear off (not that Ignis ever seems to mind). He doesn’t even know if they noticed him leave, which is exactly what he wants for this errand. Not for its own sake – Prompto actually loves living in elbow-room-only proximity with his friends (even though he sometimes feels guilty for liking anything about the state of their lives, considering why they’re here) – but he’ll enjoy this little sip of alone time while he’s got it. He trades the hush of sand for the clump of wood and walks out to the very end of the fishing pier.

He’s never stood in this exact spot before. This is always where Noct stands. But now there’s nothing between his toes and the drop to the deep, dim water lapping at the posts of the dock, nothing interrupting his view of the vista in front of him.

The sun can’t be more than two seconds from sinking below the horizon and it gleams molten-bright off the water, casting Angelgard and the resort in orange glowing light. It’s a photographer’s wet dream.

(Actually, Prompto’s wet dreams are mostly about either unbelievable breasts in a yellow nylon jacket or Noct’s cold, sparking eyes, which is a little confusing. Prompto tries not to worry about it. He never minds that Noct’s part of his panorama, basically.)

The sunset shot isn’t what he’s here for, but he snaps a few out of obligation to the craft. Then he waits.

The resort falls into shadow, and even the tallest tips of Angelgard follow soon after. The clouds stay lit up pink for a while, but the horizon goes pale and the sky gets dusty and then dim. The lights of the resort start to shine bright in the gathering dusk. The palm trees sway a little in the almost-breeze, long fronds waving lazily at him. The babble of voices and the brittle clinks of dining carry faintly across the water, but the aromas of the Mother of Pearl do not. It’s salt-sea air that Prompto breathes, which makes sense, because the ocean is what Prompto came for. The world approaches the dark blue of night.

He hears the slippery toss of water, and he turns on it with his lens like a cat tackling a laser dot. Except with actual success. Dark scales curve just above the surface, the slow slide of a large, long creature. Black with a pearly almost-iridescence. Prompto catches a burst of shots before it disappears into the night-dark water with the barest glimpse of a pale fin.

That was it. He got it. Prompto blows out his breath. His heart’s a little fast in his chest, and a smile stretches the corners of his lips. It might not be much to look at later, just some scales in the water, but that’s more of a night eel than most people ever manage to see. It’ll be enough. Somewhere in that three-second burst on his SD card is The Shot.

Still, he stands as still as he can on the creaking wooden dock. Just in case.

The first stars come out in the rich blueness of the sky.

There’s a loud splash as something leaps up through the surface of the water. Prompto depresses the shutter button almost faster than he can think the thought. All he sees is chaos, twisting blackness and ghostly white. Another splash and it’s gone, white foam quickly disintegrating into the formless sea like nothing ever happened.

Prompto just kind of stands there while his brain reboots. Then he hits a button on his camera to bring up the shots, thumbing through them in a blur. He’s shaking a little, actually lightheaded. He freezes on a photo.

The whole eel is out of the water, suspended in a cloud of splash and spray. Its staple-remover teeth are turned in perfect silhouette against the dark water, and the sheen of its black scales gleams faintly thanks to the glow of the resort. He zooms. It’s perfectly focused.

He laughs once, then whoops loudly. He maybe jumps for literal joy, and his boots thump against the dock – if there were any other extra-rare fish around, there aren’t now, but it doesn’t matter. Prompto lopes off the pier, tossing his camera into the armiger and making for the camper.

Noctis is going to have an aneurysm when he wakes up and sees the photo, an _actual photo_ of an _actual night eel_ that he missed completely, and Prompto can’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> They had a bet going over who could “catch” it first. Noct doesn’t speak to Prompto for a week.  
>   
> Thanks for reading! Y'all know comments and kudos are love. <3 If you want to play, come submit a prompt over on [tumblr](https://carolyncaves.tumblr.com/tagged/ffxv-jeopardy).


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